Like the Terrorists, It’s Time We Start Adapting to Aviation Security’s Threats and Vulnerabilities

Here’s a recent headline that should disturb every security official and every air traveler: “TSA Agents at Minneapolis Airport Failed 95% of Undercover Security Tests”[1]

This is, unfortunately, neither the first nor the last such headline that appears and then rapidly disappears from our collective and operational consciousness. Periodic red team challenges to TSA defenses have been delivering pretty much the same grim results for the past decade. Somehow, we manage to shove the bad news under the carpet, shrug, and move on. Seems like we have adapted to repressing the bad news about our abilities to mitigate actual threats much faster than we are adopting innovative new ways to mitigate our existing and evolving vulnerabilities and threats.

Relying on chance and on existing defenses is demonstrably not enough; it’s high time we move beyond the current inadequate tools and start implementing some new approaches to the challenges we currently and have yet to face. Changing the aviation security paradigm will require a shifting perspective regarding the traditional ‘basics’ of the trade, the acknowledgment that existing tools do not provide an adequate response, and the willingness to test additional tools.

Read more about an innovative approach to increasing aviation security, or contact us to start a professional-to-professional discussion.